The 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law in the Philippines: Solving the Mindanao Conflict with Aotonomy Plus Compensatory Justice Macapado Abaton Muslim

Abstract: The search for societal relevance is a continuing challenge among public administration and political science academics. Ethnic conflicts are now menacingly spreading in many parts of the world including several countries in Asia like the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, India Pakistan and many help solve the Bangsamoro armed struggle in the Philippines management with other multiethnic states. The Bangsamoro Organic Law, which is scheduled for ratification by the voter's and leaders in the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which scheduled for ratification by the voter's Muslim Mindanao in a plebiscite on January 21, and February 6, 2019, provides a responsive territorial autonomy formula that has great potentials to solve the Mindanao conflict. This can help the voter's and leadership in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to make informed opinions and actions in addressing related governance issues concerns during the implementation. It can help significantly in providing the information support required in building a strong constituency for autonomy and peace for Muslim Mindanao within and outside the region (Muslims, Christians and Lumads). It constitutes a strong argument for territorial autonomy as an effective approach in solving ethnic conflict. It recommends a peace pathway (i.e. "autonomy plus compensatory justice") which calls for three elements, autonomy or autonomous powers to address cultural distinctiveness, power sharing, and compensatory justice or social affirmative action. The Bangsamoro armed struggle is a complex and virulent ethnic conflict and management in other multiethnic states. The Mindanao, conflict can serve as an analytical framework in preempting potential ethnic flashpoints, in preventing the escalation or recurrence of ongoing ethnic problems, or in solving serious or intractable cases of ethnic conflict. This book can serve as an eye opener to address the peculiar challenges and requirements of governance in ethnoculturally diverse societies. It is a call for public administration and political science students and academics to review their analytical models and paradigms (which are mostly of Western origins) as they pursue the never ending quest for societal relevance. Addressing the turbulence in the ecosystem of governance in many multiethnic states today warrants creative governance customizing works or constitutional engineering initiatives for which, we are duly bound to contribute, significantly as students and as scholars. Specifically, we have to assist in building the capacity for resiliency of our countries vis-a vis our turbulent ecosystem, by reinventing our politics and governance to make them friendly or responsive to the demand of cultural diversity, aside from the exigencies of national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. This is indispensable requirement for good governance in multiethnic states. Keyword: constitutional law, bangsamoro organic law, politics, government